Just keep drinking your beer, the world will pass us by...

No, this is not about drinking... or really anything alcohol related for that matter, and to be very clear it is an opinion piece.

I have a wonderful step-dad who has taken me in and cared for me in a way that many men deny their own flesh and blood; as a result I take everything he says under deep consideration and look for his guidance through life's trials and tribulations. One thing that he has repeated to me over and over through the years is the importance of education. This is not to say that I should go to school, breeze through it, get my degree, and move on to an overpopulated job field; but rather to find the power in knowledge, to understand the world that surrounds us not only in words and numbers, but theories and practice. It is this philosophy and thinking that my piece will focus on.

It is well known that America is lacking in it's education; we have become a country of complacency. Abundance and prosperity has not only expanded our waist lines but it has numbed our minds. Education used to be a key to a better future. Through knowledge children would achieve their dreams of becoming an astronaut, or CEO, to be wealthy, respected, and in a better place than where they started. Today's world however is a much darker reality.

I mean, why should our children treasure their education? Fame and spoils are available to the next YouTube star, or one-hit wonder... inspiring short videos and actions that prove Darwin's theory. On a more illicit side, the production and trafficking of people, drugs, and black market items is also profitable. There will always be teenagers willing to be expendable as long as the promise of money and respect is within sight. America is the land of opportunity, one can start from nothing and end with the world in the palm of their hand with only lady luck by their side.

This is what bothers me so much. The rest of the world is studying their butts of and preparing their future with a solid foundation built through knowledge... then here we are focusing on everything but our education. Granted, there are plenty of families, institutions, and individuals who cherish the knowledge they receive but it feels as though the majority of our youth is lost.

With public schools struggling to develop an efficient lesson plan, pointless standardized testing, ridiculous student to teacher rations, and countless variables outside of our institutions children hardly stand a chance.

Increasing ones knowledge is the surefire way to increase overall happiness, it is through our understanding of the world that we see how to best live in it. Parents, adults, teachers... please push your children to pursue a better life through education. Let us keep America from getting left in the dust of other countries.